Just like in the earlier video demo, when the camera is idle, the screen works just as normal. However, when you look up close, the area above the camera appears to be more pixelated. According to Oppo, this zoned-out area features a highly-transparent material plus a redesigned pixel structure for improved light transmittance. In other words, this camera tech requires a customized display panel, because existing ones won’t do the job — their transparency properties are only good enough for in-display fingerprint readers, but not conventional cameras.

Oppo added that the under-screen camera itself also packs a larger sensor with bigger pixels, along with a larger aperture to get as much light as possible. This does mean a drop in resolution, and based on our quick comparison, there’s certainly room for improvement in terms of clarity and color accuracy. This is a little worrying, considering Oppo has already applied its algorithm fix on haze removal, HDR plus white balance, and it’ll have to put in extra effort here to meet its usual selfie standards.

There’s still no update on when we can expect this under-screen camera technology to show up on a mass-production phone — all we were told was this will be released “in the near future.” Given that Xiaomi is also toying with this tech, chances are these two brands are not alone in this race. At least this will keep us entertained until someone finally figures out the foldable form factor, anyway.

In his weibo post earlier today, Oppo VP Brian Shen shared a short video clip of what appears to be a notch-free prototype smartphone lying on a desk. The camera app was launched, and despite the lack of a visible front-facing camera, the screen still seemingly showed a live view of the room’s ceiling. Just to add credibility to the video, the demonstrator also hovered a finger over where the camera is supposedly hidden.

Having a non-mechanical front camera solution means there’s no physical wear and tear, plus that’s one less piece of fragile part to worry about. That said, in a follow-up post, Shen admitted that this under-screen camera technology is still in its early days. “At this stage, it’s difficult for under-display cameras to match the same results as normal cameras, there’s bound to be some loss in optical quality,” Shen said. “But, no new technology jumps to perfection right away.”

There’s no word on when we may see this technology on a mass-produced smartphone, but our guess is that Vivo, Oppo’s main rival in China and also a sister company, may also be working on a similar implementation — as hinted by the APEX 2019 concept phone’s product manager back in March. Either way, hopefully we’ll be hearing from Shen again about this in the near future.

For those seeking the perfect, notchless smartphone screen experience – prepare to be amazed.

You are taking a very first look at our under-display selfie camera technology. RT! pic.twitter.com/FrqB6RiJaY

— OPPO (@oppo) June 3, 2019